Microsoft Office 2024 – Is Microsoft moving away from the subscription model?

In recent years, Microsoft has increasingly focused on Cloud solutions, much to the dismay of many business owners who neither want to accept the annually increasing subscription prices nor the loss of their data sovereignty.

In 2024, with the release of Microsoft Office 2024 expected in Q3, the global corporation offers a fresh perspective for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that want to manage their data ‘in-house’ while reducing costs. With the new version of Office, SMEs can take advantage of on-premises software without missing out on the latest technological advances. In this article, you will learn how to benefit from the latest developments while remaining independent from the Cloud.

Microsoft Office 2024 LTSC: Independence and new features

In 2024, Microsoft will continue to offer an on-prem version of Office: Office 2024 LTSC (Long-Term Servicing Channel). This special version is not tied to the company's Cloud and is therefore ideal for offline environments. It does not require a running subscription or a Microsoft account, making it an excellent choice for a range of industries that need to function stably and without an internet connection. The LTSC version of Office 2024 will offer a few significant new features, including new meeting options and improvements to Outlook search, as well as new data structures such as Dynamic Charts and Arrays in Excel. Office LTSC will be delivered without Microsoft Publisher – this can be downloaded separately along with the Microsoft Teams app. This version will continue to receive support for five years and will be offered in the variants Standard, Embedded and Professional Plus.

Advantages of Office 2024 for SMEs

The introduction of Microsoft Office 2024, in both the LTSC and regular version, brings significant benefits for SMEs:

Cost efficiency: by purchasing used software licences, SMEs can make significant savings. Although prices for Office 2024 LTSC will rise by about 10%, buying used licences helps to keep costs manageable.

Data security: with local data storage, companies retain full control over their sensitive information.

Independence: no dependence on internet connections or external service providers, which ensures greater operational reliability in critical business applications.

Flexibility: Office 2024 and the LTSC version run on Windows 10 and Windows 11, although the ARM version of Windows 11 is only compatible with Microsoft 365. Users can choose between 32- and 64-bit versions.

Alternative office solutions and a future without subscription obligations

Despite the advantages of Microsoft Office 2024, there are other office solutions such as Google Workspace or LibreOffice that are also popular. It is worth comparing them to find the right solution for your needs. Microsoft itself continues to offer a choice between subscription and one-time purchase for private users and small businesses, a strategy that counteracts the trend towards pure subscription models.

Future-proof with remarketed Microsoft licences

For those who are already planning to switch to Microsoft Office 2024, there is good news: soon it will be possible to purchase used licences for Office 2024 from s2-Software, which provide a cost-effective alternative. Remarketed software licences are not only good for your budget, but also give you independence from the Cloud, allowing you to manage your data autonomously.

Find out more about used Microsoft licences from s2-Software

Are you interested in a cost-effective and secure solution for your office software? Microsoft Office 2024 will soon be available in a pre-owned version which offers significant savings. For more information and to ensure that you can benefit from our offers early on, please contact our sales team. You are welcome to fill out our contact form for this purpose: